Truck drivers in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended blockades at border crossings with the European Union on Friday after receiving assurances that they would be exempted from a contested Schengen rule limiting stays to 90 days within a 180-day period.
The blockades, which had disrupted freight traffic for five days, were lifted at 4 p.m. local time, Bosnian media reported, with trucks beginning to withdraw from border crossings shortly afterward.
Amir Hadžidedić, a board member of the Logistika BiH transport consortium, said the decision followed information from the European Commission indicating that truck drivers would be treated as a special category under a forthcoming visa strategy.
“Truck withdrawals from border crossings are under way because our colleagues in Serbia have received confirmation, and we expect the same in the coming days, that drivers will be exempted from the 90/180 rule, which was our main demand,” Hadžidedić told the Sarajevo-based Klix.ba portal after meeting the prime minister of the Bosnian Federation entity, Nermin Nikšić.
He added that the governments of Bosnia’s two entities had agreed and signed memorandums committing to address the transporters’ remaining demands.
Representatives of Logistika BiH earlier held talks with the government of Republika Srpska in the entity’s administrative centre, Banja Luka.
Truckers in Serbia suspended their blockades earlier on Friday, while transport operators in Montenegro and North Macedonia ended similar protests on Thursday, citing concerns that prolonged disruptions could damage regional supply chains.
The coordinated regional protests began on Monday, driven by longstanding complaints from Western Balkan drivers over restrictions faced while transiting the EU. Transporters in each country also pressed domestic authorities to resolve sector-specific issues.
The European Commission’s announcement that truck drivers would be classified separately under a new visa framework was cited as the key reason for ending the blockades, raising expectations of a longer-term solution for drivers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and other non-EU countries who say current rules prevent normal work-related travel within the Schengen zone.